Collecting Evidence and Investigating Ecocide in Ukraine: Problems, Innovations, Prospects

The relevance of this article lies in the study of the problems of collecting evidence and investigating ecocide in Ukraine during the armed Russian aggression and the formation of criminalistic recommendations for countering such crimes. The purpose of this study is to clarify the essence of ecocide in the context of an armed conflict, study the historical genesis of the problem, analyze national and international legal regulation of ecocide. An important aspect of covering the goals and problems of this article is the possibility of determining forensic means of countering ecocide during an armed conflict to form individual criminalistic recommendations for investigating the crime under study. Among the methods by which the study of this topic is carried out, one can highlight: the method of synthesis and theoretical analysis, the historical and legal method, the functional method, the analytical method, the dialectical method, the empirical method, the formal legal method, the systems method, the axiomatic method, the deductive method, the inductive method, the structural-genetic analysis and synthesis and event analysis and others, substantiating the topic of the study. Based on the study and analysis of judicial and investigative practice, a wide range of scientific sources and norms of national and international law, the essence of ecocide during an armed conflict is investigated. The position on the advisability of securing at the legislative level a separate article "Ecocide during an armed conflict" in the context of the requirements of international law is substantiated. The article reflects the forms of international interaction with state and non-state actors in the investigation of ecocide. The results of this article: conducting an analysis and providing a description of ecocide in the context of its relationship with armed conflict; substantiating the position on the need to include ecocide in the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court; clarifying and disclosing the features of the formation of individual sources of obtaining evidentiary information; characterizing the features of ecocide regulation from the point of view of national and international law; defining forensic means of counteracting ecocide and obtaining evidentiary information in the context of building an effective methodology for investigating such a crime. The provisions and recommendations proposed in this article are of scientific and practical value primarily for practitioners conducting pre-trial investigations, whose activities are directly aimed at identifying and investigating ecocide, as well as for all participants in this process and persons whose rights may be violated during the investigation and consideration of the ICC. The problems considered and the proposed conclusions will be useful for scientists, practicing lawyers, attorneys and judges.